Phil Lumsden, who lives in the Isle of Wight, had spent a week in the island, staying in a cottage with his son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.
The family was returning to Guernsey on the mid-afternoon boat on 16 August.
‘We were the first ones on the top deck and I saw a makeup bag, or toiletry bag, on the bench where we normally sit on the back of the Trident,’ he said.
There were only about five other people on board at the time.
At first he thought the bag might contain a mobile phone or something that could identify the owner, so he opened it.
‘All I saw was a huge amount of cash, £20 notes.
‘I immediately zipped it back up. I went to the captain and said I’d found this bag, and there is a lot of money in it. He unzipped it and was as shocked as I was.’
He heard no more about it, but later on his son suggested he try to find out if it had been reunited with its owner.
‘I rang the Trident office the next day. A very nice gentleman informed me that the money and bag had been handed to the police.’
Guernsey Police confirmed that it had received the bag and the owner had since been in contact and arranged to collect it.
‘That’s good news,’ said Mr Lumsden when told by the Guernsey Press.
‘I’m glad about that.’
But he remained puzzled as to how the bag of money had been left on the boat in the first place.
‘It’s so strange, isn’t it, to actually to have that money fall out of their bag or just be left on the bench? And to carry that amount of money as well.’
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